- Newly diagnosed AML age ≥ 60 years, de novo, secondary to prior therapy, or transformed from MDS, as defined by the International Working Group, except acute promyelocytic leukemia (AML M3) will be included for phase 1 and 2 study. Patients must not have abnormalities of inversion 16, t(16,16), del(16q), t(8,21) or t(15,17) as assessed by routine cytogenetics or FISH. Diagnosis of AML by WHO criteria (>20% blasts) is determined by CBC, bone marrow assessment, and immunophenotypic analysis performed within 2 weeks of study enrollment. No previous treatment for AML, however hydroxyurea, steroids, and leukopheresis are allowed.